With a growl, he turned off the water, swung me up into his arms, and carried me to bed.

He made love to me without a word, and I reveled in it.

He was here, and he was mine. There was no need for words. The look in his eyes, the sweet caress of his hands said it all eloquently.

Later, satisfied and sated, with my head pillowed on his chest, I whispered that I was sorry.

He covered my mouth with his fingertips. “Don't,” he said quietly.

“But…”

“You don't need to apologize for being human, for being afraid of the unknown, for wanting a home and a family.”

“Yes, I do.”

Rafe turned on his side so that we were lying face-to-face, our legs intimately entwined. “I knew what you were thinking, feeling.” He pressed his hand over my heart. “I knew how you felt, in here, but I let my pride get in the way of my good sense. I told myself I didn't need you, and I walked away.” He lifted one hand, his fingertips sliding over my lower lip. “I'll never leave you again,” he said, and I heard the promise in his voice, “unless you tell me to go.”

“It'll never happen.” The short time we had been apart had been enough to convince me that I never wanted to be parted from him again. “Will you promise me something else?”

“Anything.”

“Please don't ever shut me out again. I tried to find you and I couldn't.”

He stroked my cheek, brushed a lock of hair from my brow. “I'm sorry. It will never happen again.” He blew out a sigh. “You saved me, you know.”

“What do you mean?” My hand slid over his chest. I loved the feel of his bare skin beneath my palm, the fact that I could touch him and taste him to my heart's content.

“I was leaning toward the dark side,” he said with a wry grin. “I had decided to stop fighting what I am and take what I wanted. I was about to feed when I heard your voice.” He paused, his jaw tight. “Another minute, and I would have taken her. I would have taken it all.”

“But you didn't. That's what's important. You didn't.”

“You can't know how hard it is,” he said, and there was no humor in his expression now, and none in his voice. “How hard it is to forever deny yourself that which you crave most, to smell it and taste it and not touch it.”

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't begin to imagine what it was like for him.

“That woman owes her life to you.”

I didn't know what to say to that, either.

He shook his head. “If I'd taken her, I would have regretted it the rest of my life.”

“From now on, we'll be strong for each other. Just promise me one more thing.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Promise you'll never turn me against my will.”

“I promise.”

I snuggled against him. I hated to ruin the moment between us, but it couldn't be helped. “On the news tonight…”

“I heard. You were smart to leave town.”

“I didn't know about that until later. Someone broke into my house. They broke the lock on the front door. I didn't wait around to see who it was, or if they were still there.”

He squeezed my shoulders. “Like I said, smart.”

“What'll we do now?”

“You're going to stay here.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm going back to Oak Hollow to put Edna and Pearl out of commission.”

“Why can't Mara and Clive do it?”

“Clive took off for South America last night to take care of the last of the rebels. Mara's gone to Texas to put a certain school out of business.”

“And she left you here to clean up the town?”

“More or less.”

“I need to go home,” I said, “and since you're going back to Oak Hollow, I think I'll just go with you.”

“Dammit, Kathy, don't you listen? Didn't I just say you were staying here?”

“Yes, you did, and I said I was going with you.”

“Stubborn woman.”

“So you've said. Now, do you want to spend the rest of the night arguing with me?” I trailed my fingertips down over his chest, lower, lower. “Or making love?”

“Is that a trick question?”

“Speaking of tricks, don't even think of trying to leave without me. No turning into mist and sliding under the door.”

Laughing softly, he rose over me, his dark eyes glowing with desire. “I have a trick or two I think you'll like,” he murmured, his voice husky.

I locked my hands behind his neck and drew his head down. “Show me,” I whispered. “Kiss me and make the world go away.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

I thought it was just words, but the walls around us shimmered and disappeared, and in their place I saw rolling hills and fields of flowers and trees. Fluffy white clouds drifted lazily across a pale blue sky, and in the distance, I heard music that was both soft and sensual.

“More Vampire magic?” I asked.

“You like it?”

“It's perfect. Tell me you love me.”

“I love you as I've loved no other.” He rained kisses across my cheeks and my brow, the tip of my nose. “I love you as I will never love anyone else, in this life or the next.”

“And I love you.”

“I know. And I'll never let you forget it.”

I ran my fingertips over his shoulders and down his arms, my hands measuring the width of his biceps. Sliding my hand between our bodies, I caressed the hard ridges in his belly, then slid my questing fingertips down to the juncture of his thighs.

“Careful,” he said, his voice low and husky.

Lifting my head, I nipped at his chin. “I'm through being careful.”

“That's my brave girl.”

Turning my head a little to the side, I brushed the hair away from my neck. “Make love to me, Vampire.”

A hint of red glowed in Rafe's eyes. He lowered his head until all I could see were his eyes. He uttered a low growl, and I felt the scrape of his fangs against my skin. When his mouth found mine, the real world melted away. Every touch was heightened, every sense intensified. The brush of his skin against my own was like nothing I had ever felt before, sensuous and erotic. I trembled at his touch, as he trembled at mine. His mouth was hot as he showered me with kisses. My hips arched to meet him, my body quivering with anticipation, and then we were no longer two, but one. One heart, one mind, one body.

I love you, I love you. The words whispered in my mind, over and over again.

I writhed beneath him, wanting more of him, wanting all of him. I sobbed his name, reaching, reaching for that which eluded me. I gasped as his body quivered, shuddered, exploded deep within me, filling me with warmth, carrying me over the edge of desire into ecstasy. Sated and utterly content, I clung to Rafe's shoulders while aftershocks of pleasure rippled through me.

Murmuring his name, I closed my eyes as sleep carried me away.

I woke to the sound of someone calling my name. I opened my eyes and closed them again, certain that I was dreaming.

“Wake up, dear.”

Fear shivered through me. I took a deep breath, determined not to let it show, “Pearl, what are you doing here? How did you get in?”

Sitting up, with the sheet drawn up to cover my nakedness, I glanced around the room, looking for Rafe, but there was no sign of him. Instead, I saw Edna standing inside the doorway with five men; I recognized two of them from the lab. They had come loaded for bear this time. The men were armed with short-barreled rifles that I was pretty sure were loaded with silver bullets. Edna held a large vial I assumed was filled with holy water. My stomach clenched as I remembered the effect it had had on Susie and Rafe. Pearl held a snub-nosed pistol in one hand, and a sharp wooden stake in the other. Men and women alike wore heavy silver crosses on thick silver chains around their necks.

“Did you really think we'd let you get away?” Edna asked. “You've seen too much, know too much.” She moved toward the bed, her eyes narrowed. “Where's Raphael?”

I shrugged. “How should I know?”

Pearl slapped me hard enough to make my ears ring. “We don't have time for games, dear.”

“I don't know where he is.” That much was the truth. I had awakened in his arms a few hours before sunup, and we had made love until dawn. I had no idea where he was now.

“Bring her,” Edna said. “He won't get away from us this time.”

One of the men used his rifle to gesture toward the door. “Let's go, sister.”

I looked at Edna. “Do you mind if I get dressed first?”

She muttered something unladylike under her breath, then said, “Make it quick.”

Holding the sheet around me, I went into the bathroom and shut the door. My clothes were folded on the sink top where I had left them the night before.

I dressed slowly, my thoughts racing. Where was Rafe? When had he left the motel, and why? I slipped the cross and chain over my head, then sat on the edge of the bathtub and put on my shoes.

Tapping my fingertips on the rim of the tub, I looked up at the window. It was small, but I thought I might be able to fit through it. My purse, my keys, and my phone were in the other room, but that couldn't be helped.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed on the edge of the tub and unlocked the window.

“Going somewhere?”

I scowled at the man standing in the alley. He made a shooing gesture with his gun. “Back inside with you now.”

With a sigh of defeat, I closed the window just as someone knocked on the bathroom door. “Time's up, dear.”

Muttering an oath, I opened the door, wondering if this nightmare would ever end. Once again, I found myself sitting in the back of a van, my heart in my throat as I wondered what Pearl and Edna had planned for me now. At least I hadn't been drugged this time.